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Aunty Bea said she thought te reo Maori was doing well, something she saw when visiting schools in the region and said Maori Language Week was a good example of that.

"It is great that New Zealand has got behind the kaupapa. Everyone does something [to mark the week] now.

"I think New Zealand is doing a great job."

The Maori Language Commission is mobilising hundreds of groups and thousands of people to take part in the event which will kick off this year's Maori Language Week campaign.

The commission is calling on all groups from the public and private sectors as well as universities, wananga, kura, play centres, kindergartens, kohanga reo, sports teams, kapa haka groups, marae and hapu to join the parade.

Maori Language Week is about raising awareness te reo Maori is in a perilous state with only one in four Maori people and less than 2 per cent of the country's non-Maori population speaking the language.